AFP - Residents say only two Taliban were sheltering in a village bombed by the US-led coalition that killed 21 civilians, an Afghan governor said Thursday.

Helmand province governor Assadullah Wafa sent a team to the Sangin district on Wednesday to investigate the damage after an overnight strike called in during 16 hours of intense fighting between soldiers and militants.

He confirmed the death toll as 21 killed, including women and children, and 19 wounded.

The coalition said some of the fighters had taken shelter in compounds during the fighting.

Wafa told AFP that residents of the area where the civilians were killed had said only two Taliban militants -- one identified as Haji Wali Mohammad and another said to be a Pakistani national -- had attacked foreign forces from the village.

The locals "eliminated" the men before the bombing started, he said. He did not say how they were killed. This could not be independently confirmed.

A parliamentarian from Sangin said he had been told 100 people were dead and wounded.

"It was a savage bombing which destroyed over 40 houses and killed and wounded 100 civilians, kids and women," said Amer Dad Mohammad, vowing to bring the issue before the national parliament.

It is difficult to establish death tolls after battles in remote parts of Afghanistan, with casualties often exaggerated or downplayed.

The military forces say high civilian casualties arise when fighters put themselves among ordinary people.

Mohammad said 14 people from a single family were among the dead.

"How long can this disaster of continued civilians casualties continue?" he said, reflecting public anger over mounting civilian deaths in Afghanistan's battle against the Taliban.

After allegations that nearly 60 people were killed in other action involving the US-led coalition last month, President Hamid Karzai last week summoned the commanders of the foreign military forces and said civilian casualties were no longer acceptable.

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